Dinner in downtown Zeeland could get a little wild on Wednesday. Mark Rosenthal of Animal Magic is coming to town, along with a select few of the 6,000 exotic animals under his care, to help kick off summer.

It's part of Zeeland's new Summer Safari downtown dinner — a reinvention of the city's traditional end-of-summer community lunch, said Kerri VanDorp, Zeeland's events coordinator.

"We started thinking about who was coming to the community lunch," VanDorp said. "We saw a lot of moms with their kids but realized there are a lot of working parents who can't come at noon."

City officials agreed to make the meal a summer kick-off, complete with chalkworks, facepainting, bounce house and a big sprinkler. The Holland Area Arts Council will host a make-and-take craft, safari sock puppets, for kids. Rosenthal's two shows, at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m., will last about an hour each. He'll be stationed in the Vande Luyster Square gazebo on Church Street, between Cherry and Central avenues.

Rosenthal couldn't say exactly which exotic animals will be featured. It depends on each animal's mood and health, he said. What he's not bringing: baby bears, lions or tigers — for safety reasons — nor animals considered house pets. The shows are tailored to children ages 5 and older, but all are welcome, he said. It's been years since Rosenthal's had a public show in this part of West Michigan, he said, but he's often hired by schools to do animal demonstrations.

"Each show I do is different," he said, describing a show as a mix of magic tricks and education on each type of animal.

VanDorp said families can bring their own picnic meals; buy either an Elbo Room quarter chicken dinner, with house chips, for $5 each; or buy The Farmhouse Restaurant pizza dinner ($3 for a single slice and drink or $5 for two slices and a drink). The dinners will be limited, VanDorp said, so early birds will benefit.